Gov’t to cut jobs in 2017 as part of IMF conditionalities – Bawumia

Government has submitted a document to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on plans to lay off some public sector workers from 2017, the Vice Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has disclosed.

Dr Mahamudu Bawumia said the document was submitted last December.

“To worsen matters, government has placed a ban on public sector employment and it appears things will worsen come next year when the government rolls out its agreement with the IMF to lay off workers,” Dr Bawumia said at a lecture at Accra Polytechnic last Thursday, May 5.

“The government in typical fashion has denied this but it is true. Just in December 2015 the government presented a plan to the IMF for the rationalization of civil servants beginning in 2017.”

Suggesting that his claims may be denied, Dr Bawumia challenged government to make the document public.

“I am asking the government in the interest of transparency to make this document public. The IMF is not more important than Ghanaians in the discourse on this matter. If the government has nothing to hide, it should make the document public.”

Dr Bawumia also challenged the country’s debt figures as put out by President John Dramani Mahama in a recent interview.

According to the former Deputy Central Bank Governor, Ghana’s debt stock has exceeded GH¢100 million.

“You have the President quoting different debt figures from his Ministers of Finance and all of them are wrong! The incompetence of this government is just mindboggling! Ghana’s debt stock at the end of March 2016 is now projected to be around GH¢111 billion! Quite frankly the quantum of borrowing that has been undertaken by this government in the last seven years is nothing short of reckless and has a direct bearing on the high unemployment in the country.”

He explained that government has been engaged in propaganda with the figures.

“What amazes us is how members of the government who were in possession of the data could come out to mislead the people of Ghana. How could someone like me who did not have all the data do a better projection than members of the government who had the actual data? I keep saying you cannot do propaganda with the economy but sadly this government is yet to learn.”